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Military Affairs

Military affairs comprise a range of topics from military personnel and veterans to equipment and facilities—as well as the methods, doctrines, organizational concepts, and technologies that support the military's strategic or tactical goals. RAND provides objective policy recommendations in all of these areas and more.

The U.S.'s relationship with France should be recognized and strengthened. France retains the military capability and the political moxie to contribute significantly and aggressively to collective responses to security threats to the Atlantic Alliance.

As Department of Defense plans for the next-generation space systems in an increasingly challenging fiscal and security environment, it is important to apply lessons learned from past space acquisition, which had experienced many difficulties.

Commissaries run by the U.S. Department of Defense save service members and eligible family members an average of more than 30 percent compared to civilian marketplaces and are seen as an important benefit of service. How might price increases affect their use?

With Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's first official visit to the United States set to begin Sunday, a trio of RAND researchers discuss what to expect after the president and his chief executive officer, Abdullah Abdullah, arrive in Washington.

The U.S. needs to consider stationing forces in Eastern Europe to support its commitment to protect the independence of the Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania against Russian aggression. If not, and Russia invades, the options available to this or a future U.S. president are stark.

If Iraqi security forces are incapable of defeating ISIL in the cities where they have gone to ground, then the only reliable means available are U.S. ground combat forces. The U.S. Army and Marine Corps have all the skills in joint combined arms warfare that the ISF lacks.

Although the People's Liberation Army has made impressive progress over the past 20 years, it still suffers from a number of potentially serious problems. Understanding its weaknesses — particularly what PLA officers themselves see as the most important shortcomings — is just as critical as studying its strengths.

The DoD plans to fund a Darpa-Air Force-Navy technology demonstration program aimed at developing critical sixth-generation fighter capabilities. It's a sign that the Pentagon is adopting a cost-effective strategy but it will need to remain vigilant to avoid the pitfalls that have caused previous joint fighter programs to fall short of hoped-for cost savings and to accept unwelcome design compromises.

In the context of rising rates of suicide among U.S. military personnel, this report reviews the literature on gatekeeper models of suicide prevention to better understand what is known about the effectiveness of gatekeepers and gatekeeper training.

Innovation is a complex system with many interacting factors, which means that 'magic bullet' solutions do not exist to enhance the innovation process. RAND Europe identified eight key factors that can be used to understand innovation systems and to focus effort on being able to harness innovation for the defence industry.

The UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) commissioned RAND Europe to conduct a study of innovation models and make recommendations on changes the MOD could make to better harness and absorb innovation from external sources.

The UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) commissioned RAND Europe to conduct a study of innovation models and make recommendations on changes the MOD could make to better harness and absorb innovation from external sources.

In this March 2015 Congressional Briefing, a panel of RAND experts discuss the effect of armed drones on global warfare, whether U.S. policy on armed drones shapes the way other nations deploy them, and the sale of armed drones to allies.

Demonstrations in Greece and elsewhere suggest that the European public may have little sympathy for governments not devoting most efforts to domestic discontent and foreign indebtedness. But the longtime downward trends in European defense spending matter now that Russia has chosen to flex its military might, diminished though it may be.

The successes and challenges companies who are proponents of veteran employment have experienced highlight areas where civilian employers and federal agencies can take steps to increase veteran opportunities in the workplace.

Researcher Spotlight

Director, Emerging Policy Research &amp

Pete Schirmer is a senior management system analyst at the RAND Corporation and the director for Emerging Policy Research and Methods. His research focuses on military manpower, personnel, and force structure. His RAND publications include Leader Development in Army Units: Views From the Field;…

Project Associate, II

Jon Welch is a project associate at RAND. He first joined RAND as an adjunct in August 2012 to work on a threat finance project. Before RAND, Welch served as a United States Marine Corps infantry officer. In that role he spent most of 2005-2007 deployed to Al Anbar, Iraq, as a rifle platoon…

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